Etdlahq Memorial Bar - your shelter from forum crashes

[jonny5]

Many here are avid readers, whereas I generally am not, so I have a question for everyone. Over the last few months, my wife and I have found listening to the Harry Potter series on audiobook a good way to a) do something together and b) wind down at the end of the day before falling asleep. We are nearly done with Half-Blood Prince and are looking for what to listen to after the series is finished. Generally, my wife is not a fan of anything too elaborate or overly descriptive (think Game of Thrones), and nothing *too* far into fantasy land. Something fictional and not entirely grounded in reality would probably still hold both our interest, though. Any suggestions?

 

[pharphis]

Ender's Game? Might be better read, though.

 

[Kitteh1]

There are a bunch of great Sherlock Holmes audiobooks. Pretty much anything with Stephen Fry is good. There are also the Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories (original stories) and the Discworld audiobooks which are narrated by a handful of good narrators.

 

[ioupain]

I can't stand Stephen Fry.

 

[Goldtru1]

Harry Dresden. He’s a wizard who is in the Chicago phone book. He has a great sense of humor. He’s 6’ 8” tall. There are 15 books so far and more planned. It feels a lot like “Supernatural” if you’ve ever seen that show - real world and fantasy world living side by side.

 

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Anything by Iain Banks (fiction) or Iain M Banks (sf) - same guy.

I particularly recommend The Bridge, which is like fantasy or is fantasy, depending. Or The Wasp Factory, which is freakish - it's the one novel where I read the newspaper reviews in the front of the book every time I read the book.

 

[jonny5]

These all seem like great suggestions. Definitely more than I would've come up with using googlefu. Now I've got some homework to do to pick one out, but lots of time to do it. Thanks all!

 

[Zyr]

I'm a lifelong reader, but my partner is an audio book junkie who has made a listener of me. Some standouts for me include The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison, narrated by Kyle McCarley, and The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by David Case. We have also enjoyed other Sherlock Holmes tales read by David Burke, who played Dr. Watson to Jeremy Brett's Holmes in the '80s TV series.

Neil Gaiman does a superb job of reading his own books.

 

[jonny5]

@Kitteh @Zyr Thanks to both of you for pointing out the value of the narration itself. Jim Dale does a great job narrating the HP books; it's impressive how many unique voices the man has created just for that series alone. Quality narrating really does add to the appeal.

 

[Kitteh1]

I just introduced my parents and nan to Cards Against Humanity. Tomorrow we are playing with the rest of the old people in her accommodation.

 

[jonny5]

I just introduced my parents and nan to Cards Against Humanity. Tomorrow we are playing with the rest of the old people in her accommodation.

I've found that you can learn a lot about your elder relatives with games like that.

 

[smloeffelholz]

@Kitteh @Zyr Thanks to both of you for pointing out the value of the narration itself. Jim Dale does a great job narrating the HP books; it's impressive how many unique voices the man has created just for that series alone. Quality narrating really does add to the appeal.

I also listened to the audiobook with Jim Dale. His voices made the story that much better. I have also experienced the opposite. In particular, the narration for Inferno by Dan Brown was terrible. The guy used the same whispery voice for every female in the book. It was so bad that it actually distracted me from the book itself.

 

[jonny5]

I also listened to the audiobook with Jim Dale. His voices made the story that much better. I have also experienced the opposite. In particular, the narration for Inferno by Dan Brown was terrible. The guy used the same whispery voice for every female in the book. It was so bad that it actually distracted me from the book itself.

And that's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. Sounds very frustrating!

 

[Kitteh1]

My first paper just got published and I can’t even access it without my work computer

 

[jonny5]

@Kitteh Congrats! Always nice to get that first one out of the way, even if you have to wait a little while to access it .

 

[Kitteh1]

@Kitteh Congrats! Always nice to get that first one out of the way, even if you have to wait a little while to access it .[/QUOTE
It sure is! Unfortunately, it’s a review, but I will take it haha

 

[jonny5]

@Kitteh My first paper was a review, too. It's a good tactic to jump-start your publication record, especially if you're developing complex new assays that take a while to get up and running.

 

[Kitteh1]

@Kitteh My first paper was a review, too. It's a good tactic to jump-start your publication record, especially if you're developing complex new assays that take a while to get up and running.

That is true. My second internship was assay development and I completely underestimated it

 

[Drystan1]

Many here are avid readers, whereas I generally am not, so I have a question for everyone. Over the last few months, my wife and I have found listening to the Harry Potter series on audiobook a good way to a) do something together and b) wind down at the end of the day before falling asleep. We are nearly done with Half-Blood Prince and are looking for what to listen to after the series is finished. Generally, my wife is not a fan of anything too elaborate or overly descriptive (think Game of Thrones), and nothing *too* far into fantasy land. Something fictional and not entirely grounded in reality would probably still hold both our interest, though. Any suggestions?

Iron Druid Chronicles, by Kevin Hearne, read by Luke Daniels.
Modern day setting, protagonist is a druid, and mythical creatures/gods exist, but are all based on mythology and religion (all gods exist, from Thor to The Morrigan to Jesus, as do mythological creatures, focusing a bit on irish/old english/celtic folklore.)

 

[jonny5]

@Drystan Thanks for the suggestion. Very nice that you included that link, too. Great way to easily preview the content and the narrator. First few minutes sound pretty interesting so far.